House Passes Email Privacy Act

A version of the bill, which boosts protections of information stored in the cloud, passed the House unanimously in the last session of Congress in April, and supporters were hoping for clean passage in the Senate as well. But it was held over by the Senate Judiciary Committee after amendments were offered that could have undone a compromise approach.

The baseline bill updates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to require the government to get a probable cause criminal warrant to access emails, social media posts and other online content stored in the cloud by internet service providers and email service providers like Google. In a nod to the longevity of cloud storage, it eliminates the 180-day sunset on stored communications. Previously a warrant was not required for communications stored beyond 180 days.

"If the government wants to read your emails, then they should be required to obtain a warrant just like they would need in order to read your letters, search your hard drive or listen in on your phone calls," said bill backer Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) "Technology has made incredible advances over the years, but the privacy laws for digital communications just haven't kept pace. Right now, the rules governing how and when the government can access a person's emails, photos, documents and other online communications are outdated and do not provide for the same Fourth Amendment protections given to on-paper or in-person communications. The bill we've passed today is an important privacy safeguard that will help cement Americans' rights in the digital age."

“Today, the House took a major step forward in bringing our nation’s electronic communications privacy laws into the 21st century,” said Linda Moore, president of TechNet. “These laws haven’t been updated since 1986, and modernization is badly needed. TechNet applauds the House for sending a clear message that the U.S. Constitution applies to private digital information just as it applies to physical property. We urge the Senate to take up this legislation as soon as possible.”

"Updating our laws to reflect the way the world works in the 21st century has been one of my top priorities in Congress," said Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), who co-sponsored the reintroduction of the bill.

"When current law affords more protections for a letter in a filing cabinet than an email on a server, it’s clear our policies are woefully outdated,” DelBene said. “I’ve supported a number of different proposals to reform our electronic privacy laws and will continue to push for those, but today’s passage of the Email Privacy Act is a great step forward for Americans’ civil liberties. Now it’s up to the Senate to act and ensure Americans are guaranteed the privacy protections most think they already have.”

“We applaud members of Congress for recognizing the need to clarify an important Constitutional protection for citizens in the digital age and expediting the passage of the Email Privacy Act," said Computer & Communications Industry Association president Ed Black. "At a time when citizens’ private information and communications are usually stored online, these privacy protections are imperative—and long overdue. We now urge the Senate to take up and pass the Act."